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City revises flood-damaged home sale plan

After weeks of negotiations with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Columbia officials have determined they can keep a federal grant to purchase flood-damaged properties in the city.

At a work session Tuesday, City Manager Paul Boyer told the city council that while now the program “doesn’t seem to be as a good a deal as it was a month ago,” some funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant program will be available to 15 eligible property owners, if they decide to participate.

The city in July was on the brink of returning the grant, after budget constraints forced the City Council to make cuts to matching grant contributions. But at the request of affected homeowners, the council asked city staff to give the grant program one more shot.

The program provides funds for properties damaged at least three times by flooding to be purchased and razed, freeing up funds for property owners to purchase safer property elsewhere. The most recent information Assistant City Manager Jennifer Moody received from the state indicates at this point homeowners would have to donate a portion of the funds to have their property purchased.

“We believe, based on our discussions with TEMA, that the only donation that we can see is feasible is for the homeowner to accept 75 percent of the appraised value as the purchase price for their home,” Boyer told the council. “Do you want to proceed under the conditions that we would have to pay closing costs, we would have to pay the appraisals and we would have to pay for demolition and restoration of the property?”

Boyer said based on the number of appeals to property appraisals each year, he expects some property owners to decline to participate, specifically since they are being asked to relinquish 25 percent of their home’s value. Still, he said only one home owner has to be willing to participate for the grant program to move forward.

The next step for the program is to allow FEMA to conduct a “duplication of benefits” report, to determine if any of the 15 properties have received benefits from the agency in the past. If so, the amount of previous benefits will also be deducted from the amount a property will receive from the federal contribution to the grant. When this process is complete, the city will be prepared to share more information with interested property owners, the city manager said.

“Jennifer is working on this every day, trying to get accurate information so we can present something to the homeowners that is accurate,” Boyer said. “It’s not nearly the budget issue for the city if we only have two or three properties, especially if they would agree to accept 75 percent of the appraised value.”

The council, at its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, will:

◆ conduct its third and final consideration of an ordinance setting the classification and compensation plan for city employees;

◆ conduct a second reading of an ordinance that would allow for the banning of the ignition of fireworks while the city is under a burn ban;

◆ consider a resolution which accepts a donation from Columbia Main Street of flags, flag poles and other items for Riverwalk Park and the Farmers Fresh Market.